The Ontario Book Publishers Organization is pleased to announce that submissions are being accepted until January 15, 2018 for the What’s Your Story? Short Prose and Poetry Competition for Emerging Writers.

This writing competition is part of What’s Your Story?, a series of events that celebrates the literary communities in four different community hubs: Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, and East Toronto. In the spring of 2018, literary events will be held in each of these neighbourhoods featuring two winning emerging authors and their works (along with two established writers). There will be a total of eight winning emerging authors and eight winning established authors who have written works inspired by one of the four community hubs Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, and East Toronto. Short prose submissions must be between 1,300 and 1,500 words and poetry submissions must be a maximum of two pages. .

PRIZE

There is a $1,000 prize for each winning author. The author will be featured at one of the What’s Your Story? literary events in the spring of 2018, published on open-book.ca and published in an anthology of all winning works.

ELIGIBILTY

The competition is open to writers who are over 16 years-old, are Toronto residents and have not had a book published. Authors must be available to participate in the literary events that will be scheduled for the spring of 2018, the dates of which will soon be determined. What’s Your Story 2016 and 2017 winning authors are not eligible.

Short prose submissions must be between 1,300 and 1,500 words and poetry submissions must be a maximum of two pages. Entries should be typed, double-spaced, in a clear twelve-point font on a 8.5" x 11" sized document, saved as a Word document with your last name in the document name and neighbourhood identified. Please put the neighbourhood you are writing about in the upper left hand corner of the first page. (The boundaries of the neighbourhoods are below.) Do not include author name on writing sample. This is a blind competition.

Please provide a cover page stating your name and a 50-word bio and title it with your first and last name.

Entries must be received electronically by January 15, 2018 at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time to jury@obpo.ca

Winning writers will be notified by email in mid-February 2018.

NEIGHBOURHOOD BOUNDARIES

Etobicoke -- Steeles Ave W. south to Lake Ontario and Mill Road east to the Humber River

North York – Steeles Ave. to Eglinton Ave and Victoria Park Ave to Jane St/Hwy 400